Eek - have decided to homeschool DS2. Please give me your experiences

[lirael]

Have namechanged as I decided recent threads made me far too identifiable, but hope it's obvious to those who know me on here who I am. Have made the huge decision to take DS2 (9, ASD) out of school and home educate him for two years until he can go to special secondary school. He is at m/s with a specialist unit and we've come to the realisation over the last few months that it's no longer the right place for him. Lots of reasons why, but mainly because they were failing to deal appropriately with his increasingly agitated and sometimes aggressive behaviour. Had meeting with very sympathetic chap from LEA today who is supportive of our decision and is calling an early Annual Review so we can alter the provision in Part 4 of his statement.

Am posting to get experience and advice from other homeschoolers - I want to focus on communication skills ( he is verbal but only very basically, though is very keen to communicate and engage). Will share the teaching with another tutor so that DS2 doesn't become too dependent on me ( and I don't become a madwoman).

Hi lirael apologies if I do know you but I'm useless with name changes lol. I would like to know is the LA helping with anything else other than taking the school out of the statement and replacing it with HE?

If this is what they are doing of course they are happy, it saves them money and frees up a space for someone else!

I would say do not elective HE but state that the school does not meet his needs, how do the LA go about meeting his needs?

If I'm way off the mark, ignore especially if you feel it's too negative. Was just looking at the flip side. My DS is home tutored by the LA. You get 5 hours per week usually but you can haggle for more. We are doing 9 hours per week, however come September I am hoping to increase this further.

County chap was actually very good and pointed out the paragraph in the Code of Practice which refers to the LA offering support. I got the impression he wasn't allowed to push it, but wanted me to investigate, iyswim. On further reading of the Education Act 1996 and a brilliant website I found (through the homeschool board here) called Ed Yourself, it seems as if the LA can provide help to enable parents to meet the terms of the statement ( which we want to maintain, as do the LA) - if this support is substantial they can then claim it back from the Government by registering the child on something called the Alternative Provision census. Am going to see if we can get SALT and OT in this way, if ( and I'm not yet sure this is the case) we have lost our right to these services by taking him out of the education system.

zzzz - that is interesting, as we do sound in a similar position. Will write more later but DS is asking for the iPad using very appropriate language and really trying to be patient ( hard for him) so will come back later.

It is true that SALT and OT provision are not tied into an LEA package - in fact many SN LEA placements do not come with any specific NHS input unless parents push for it. If you want to home educate though it's best to assume you will be primarily on your own and that anything else you can get is a bonus. The LEA will not normally agree ( and not without a long battle) that their chosen school does not meet the child's needs and that therefore they must fund home education. Not sure if that is what you are asking but I did home educate for a year and have never regretted it so sometimes you have to go with your gut feelings.

I know who you are - no advice, but GOOD LUCK :)

Oh and if you want some sports sessions I can arrange surfing :)

Haven't taken ds4(9) out of school yet, but am increasingly thinking we will have to. Anxiety levels are so high that like zzzzz the benefits are outweighed by the negatives. Was interested though that a few of you feel that secondary will be better? We were thinking "try and get him through primary, but cant see how he will possibly cope with secondary". Could you please tell me why you feel secondary will be easier, as I am really worried and dont know what to do for the best. Ds4 has a statement so will have to look and secondary schools this year. Any advice?

for us secondary is easy as there is a great special secondary school locally - I am already very involved there so know its good ( tbh the contrast between the way I see things being done there, where everything is planned with the needs of the sen child first, and the way it is done in the m/s school, where the unit children are often treated according to m/ s norms, is one of the main reasons we're taking him out.

Didn't mean to be mysterious about the name changing - was just a bit worried as my old name was quite obvious! Just wanted the couple of people who know me well on here ( jimjams being one) to know who I was. Don't expect most people to realise or care!!

Willow - that's good to hear. Always worth knowing what's happening in other authorities.
zzzz - I am also thinking of doing the first few weeks by myself to establish a programme and routine. We will probably advertise in the nearest universities as we did when we were running our ABA programme 5 years ago - got two excellent students as a result, one of whom has gone on to become an ABA consultant. This time though, I'm going to run a more eclectic programme as it seems to suit DS better - a
mix of VB, intensive interaction and sensory integration. We are also going to trial the vantage lite AAC system ( same one as Jimjams DS1 is using ) - DS had an assessment earlier this week and
and took to it very well. If we can find funding from somewhere to get one, I will be spending a large amount of time working on it - communication is a huge priority. If I can just help him to communicate
more effectively in the next two years , and nothing else, it will have been worth it.

If he ends up like ds1 it can be a joy using the talker, as for the first time ever ds1 focuses. Good luck again!

There won't be a problem getting DS into the special school. Our county is so mean with statements that most pupils with SEN are in mainstream schools - the special school has vacant places in Year 7 every year as a result.